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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has vowed not to accept a ministerial appointment from President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on ‘Channels Television‘ programme, ‘Sunday Politics,’ Fayose, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), disclosed that he worked against his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the February 25, 2023 election.
He said he supported Tinubu because he believes in him, and not because he needed any appointment from him.
Asked if he would reject a ministerial offer if the president offered him, Fayose responded: “I will never accept it.”
He urged Tinubu to appoint people below 65 years of age and ask those within the age brackets of 65 and 70 years to nominate younger persons.
“I’m not looking for a position. I will never take it (referring to ministerial appointments).
“If I want to be honest with you, any of us that have reached the age of 65 and above, Asiwaju should tell us to go and bring our children.
“Already, their future had been stolen. The future of these young people had already been stolen,” he said.
On why he worked against his party, the former governor said: “Do you expect me to work for a party that suspended my son? A party that expelled my son?
“I never worked for PDP during the last election. There’s no reason to hide that… The reality is that I worked for Asiwaju (Tinubu). He is a respectable person from the South West. It is the turn of the South.
“The same PDP, because I said it was the turn of the South, removed my son, suspended my son, expelled my son, suspended me. For a man that has suffered tremendously for PDP?”
Fayose, who visited Tinubu at the presidential villa last week, denied the rumour making the rounds that he visited the president over his case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Tinubu has no power to stop my case with EFCC; do you expect him to ask EFCC to stop or he would call the judge and tell him what. The matter has been going on for five years now and as a defendant, I don’t want to comment on it,” he added.